Monday 18 November 1667
Up, and all the morning at my office till 3 after noon with Mr. Hater about perfecting my little pocket market book of the office, till my eyes were ready to fall out of my head, and then home to dinner, glad that I had done so much, and so abroad to White Hall, to the Commissioners of the Treasury, and there did a little business with them, and so home, leaving multitudes of solicitors at their door, of one sort or other, complaining for want of such despatch as they had in my Lord Treasurer’s time, when I believe more business was despatched, but it was in his manner to the King’s wrong. Among others here was Gresham College coming about getting a grant of Chelsey College for their Society, which the King, it seems, hath given them his right in; but they met with some other pretences, I think; to it, besides the King’s.
Thence took up my wife, whom I had left at her tailor’s, and home, and there, to save my eyes, got my wife at home to read again, as last night, in the same book, till W. Batelier come and spent the evening talking with us, and supped with us, and so to bed.
15 Annotations
First Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
"here was Gresham College coming about getting a grant of Chelsey College for their Society, which the King, it seems, hath given them his right in"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chel…
Terry Foreman • Link
“here was Gresham College coming about getting a grant of Chelsey College for their Society, which the King, it seems, hath given them his right in”
Interesting that Samuel Pepys, FRS, writes like an outsider.
MILD SPOILER. In 1669 a third Charter was given [the Royal Society], granting to the Society lands in Chelsea in which were situated Chelsea College. The site could have provided a permanent home for the Society, but no funds were forthcoming for the necessary building, and the college remained vacant. In 1681, under Wren's presidency, the lands were sold back to the King as a site for his Royal Hospital. http://royalsociety.org/about-us/…
andy • Link
perfecting my little pocket market book of the office
Is this the book with varnished paper - that we felt was some sort of "ready reckoner" book of tables? Could be useful for mast heights * weights, or prices for rope per furlong, or something similar?
Robert Gertz • Link
"Bess?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you sure you're reading 'Fuller's History'?"
Holds up book...
Hmmn...
"It really says 'Raoul, his manly chest bare, stealhily approached the chamber where the sleeping Miranda lay, exposed to the night under a thin blanket, her ample bosum heaving with her disconsolate sorrow...'?"
"Uh... 'Cardinal Raoul...'."
"Ah...That explains it." nod. "Carry on, dear."
Bess pulls open to hidden copy of favorite French novel tucked inside Fuller volume.
djc • Link
"“here was Gresham College coming about getting a grant of Chelsey College for their Society, which the King, it seems, hath given them his right in”
Interesting that Samuel Pepys, FRS, writes like an outsider."
Greasham College ('their Society') is not the same institution as the Royal Society.
Mary • Link
the little pocket market book.
An L&M footnote suggests that this may have been the notebook containing prices for victualling provisions 1660-1661 and 1664-1667 (listed in Rawl. D 794).
Mary • Link
more expense at the tailor's
A delightful note in L&M shows that the purchase of two yards of pure, fine, black cloth and five yards of cloth was made by Pepys (or his wife?) on this day. This is recorded in the ledgers of the draper, Sir William Turner. The cost came to £6 and the bill was settled on 29th December. (Pepys clearing his debts before the end of the year, we presume).
nix • Link
"but they met with some other pretences" --
in this time and context, "pretences" probably meant no more than "claims", without a connotation of spuriousness.
Terry Foreman • Link
djc, I find and concede that Pepys was an outsider and misunderstood a plan by the Royal Society to secure Chelsea College and its grounds for permanent quarters (it wasn't Gresham College where Robert Hooke still lived).
"On the 27th September, 1667, the Society took possession of Chelsea College45 [ 45 The College was delivered up to the Society by Evelyn, who writes in his Diary, Sept. 24, 1667, " I had orders to deliver the possession of Chelsea College (used as my prison during the war with Holland, for such as were sent from the Fleete to London) to our Society, as a gift of His Majesty, our Founder." ], which was in a most dilapidated condition; but, as the grant of the building and land had not passed the great seal, it was resolved, "that all repairs should be deferred until the Society obtained legal possession of the premises." This appears to have been regarded as extremely doubtful; and although Dr. Sprat speaks, in his history, of the College as intended to serve for the Society's meetings, laboratory, repository, and library, yet the Council resolved, that subscriptions should be set on foot for the purpose of building a College, " as the most probable way of the Society's establishment." With this view [ a ] subscription was drawn up [ but failed to be fulfilled ]."
*A history of the Royal society, with memoris of the presidents* By Charles Richard Weld, pp. 204ff. http://is.gd/hqT2r
Cp. *The History of the Royal Society of London*, By Thomas Birch, Vol. II, pp. 205f. et ad rem.
Second Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
"I find and concede that Pepys was an outsider and misunderstood a plan by the Royal Society to secure Chelsea College, &c."
Pepys was not a member of the governing Council of the RS at this time, so was "an outsider" in relation to this exploration. In the event, say L&M, the Crown's claim to certain portions of Chelsea College were still legally contested even after its conveyance to the society by its third charter of 8 April 1669; it was sold back to the Crown in 1682 to become the Royal Hospital (rebuilt by Wren, 1682-1702): CTB, Birch, Evelyn and Faulkner, Chelsea (1829), ii. 218+.
San Diego Sarah • Link
"my little pocket market book"
That settles it ... they had pockets by 1667. Now, whether they was sewn into the seams of clothing, or were "patches" either inside or outside of a piece of clothing, or were hung around the waist (like a sporran) and called a pocket, I dunno. I've seen all three opinions from clothing experts over the years. Some even suggested Henry VIII used his codpiece as a pocket (I hope not).
San Diego Sarah • Link
Shame on me for posting without checking my notes. Pockets were quite familiar by the 1660's and well before in the 16th century. There are all sorts of paintings with pockets clearly shown.
https://www.euppublishing.com/doi…
Harry R • Link
- "but it was in his manner to the King’s wrong."
Is Pepys saying here that the late Lord Treasurer was too quick to settle valid debts / claims to the disadvantage of the Crown? I don't understand why he would take that view.
San Diego Sarah • Link
I think you are right, Harry R. My take is:
Money is tight; it always is after a war, plague and fire. Pepys was grateful recently to receive 6,000l. on a 16,000l. invoice to pay the Tangier garrison.
At the Treasury, either there was hard currency available or there wasn't. The goldsmith/jewelers/bankers ponied up advances on anticipated revenues for a percentage, and keeping them happy was job #1.
Taxes are thought of as being the King's money; Southampton/Warwick apparently believed it best to keep Charles II's credit score good, rather than pay attention to the rising deficits which came due around the time the old man became sick and eventually died.
It's the Crown's money and the King's credit as the Crown owns everything.
Charles has wisely opted for a Committee to pay off his debtors for pennies on the pound, rather than entrust the job to an individual who could have been bribed or acted with favoritism.
Pepys pragmatically approves of that.
The alternative is what happens in January 1671/2, which was financial disaster for everyone except Charles II. But that story is beyond the scope of the Diary.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story…
Third Reading
Trevor M Randall • Link
till my eyes were ready to fall out of my head
Judging by Sam’s deteriorating vision (hyperopia(?)) perhaps this isn’t an idiom.